About this Archive

Administrative/ Biographical History

Originally from Folkestone, Kent, Robert attended Harcourt County Primary School (1958-1963) and Harvey Grammar School (1963-1970).

He did one year at London City University studying aeronautical engineering (1970-1971) but left when he realised it wasn’t for him.

He worked in sales for General Motors (1972-1975), for the Dept of Employment (1975-1978), Highgate Optical Ltd (1979-1982), Datasolve (1982), Promo People (1982-1986) and Audiotext in the Accounts Dept (1987-?) before making the leap to a career in his first love, music.

He had formed several bands since his early twenties, including Irma’s Tubes (1973-1976), Night Fire (1976), Ice (1976), High Altitude (1976-1979), Angelle and the White Boys (1979), In Time (1979), Formula One (1979-1980), Travel (1980-1981), A Matter of Climate (1981), Zoot Troup (1981), and Desperate Fun (1986-1989), many of which won numerous competitions, received very favourable press and played support for bands such as Soft Machine.

In the early 1990s he branched out into DJing and recording mixes for club gigs, working under the name DJ Serotina with artists including Tasty Tim and Tino Di Placido (to form T-Total) and Mark Moore (as Needledust). Popular and often in demand, he worked steadily throughout the 1990s and early 2000s at London venues and club nights including Salon Kitty, Club Rub, Club Flesh, Skin Two, Club Submission/Torture Garden. His work was regularly reviewed in magazines including Attitude, Boyz and DJ Mag.

Scope and Content

Set lists, cassette tapes, CDs, video cassettes, vinyl, DVDs, personal papers, school records, correspondence with family and friends, photographs, club flyers, music lyrics and copies of released and unreleased recordings of musician and DJ Robert Michael, AKA Serotina (1951-2007), regular DJ for Club RUB and other fetish and gay clubs through the 1990s and early 2000s such as Club Submission and Fantastic as well as more mainstream clubs Pushka, Heaven and Trade. He made records and remixes with Tasty Tim and Tino Di Placido (as T-Total), with Mark Moore (as Needledust) and with many other artists and bands.

This personal and professional archive includes: photographs of early life, family and friends (c.1915-c.1975) and later life (c.1976-2006); family and personal correspondence (1945-2007), including cards and letters to and from his partner David; school records and early writings (1958-1970); appointment diaries (1961-2006); ticket stubs from music gigs and theatre productions Michael attended (1968-2004); correspondence and press reviews of bands Michael formed or was part of in his early twenties, including Irma’s Tubes, High Altitude (1973-1976); posters of gigs his bands performed at (1975-2000); contracts and royalty documents (1979-2006); press cuttings of reviews of DJ Serotina and his work (1984-2005); Michael’s own journalism for Sound on Sound magazine, including interviews with RuPaul, Level 42 and The Red Hot Chili Peppers (c.1990); club flyers for many of the venues and club nights (London and New York) including Club Submission, Club Flesh, Salon Kitty, Bambina, Heaven, Cafeteria, Click and Drag, Limelight, The Garage, Immodesty Blaize, Madame JoJo’s, Skin Two and Club Rub (1992-2003); scrapbook of memorabilia from Club Submission (1994-2000); 7- and 12-inch vinyl records and music CDs including of tracks mixed by Michael (as DJ Serotina) with Tasty Tim and Tino Di Placido (as T-Total) and other artists (c.1996-2006); publicity photos and publications (1996-2002); set lists (1999-2006